Séamus de Blaca

...de Irish Central:

Séamus Blake's Míle Fáilte is New York City's only bi-lingual Irish Gaelic radio program, broadcast from his native Bronx across the tri-state region and across the world. An archive of his broadcast is available on-line--here.

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His program is chock full of media from the world of Irish language music and literature, while connecting up the Gaeilgeoirí and their friends to what's the latest from Ireland's most interesting cultural movement--the re-popularization of our heritage's language.

I sat down with Séamus in Manhattan to learn about his life, his family from Clare and to pick his brain for better insight into the Irish language movement. I've broken the interview, which was four hours of enlightening conversation, into morsels that you can play and listen-in on yourself….

Yn y Ddinas

…de la Western Mail:

A Welsh indie rock band is hoping to become one of only a handful of acts to get a non-English language song into the UK top 40.

Welsh-language single Yn y Ddinas (In the City) by Masters in France went on sale on Monday and the band will discover tomorrow whether they have broken into the charts.

Only a select few have scored hits in the UK charts with non-English tracks.

Luciano Pavarotti’s classical aria Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep) made it to No 2 in 1990 and three years earlier Los Lobos topped the chart with La Bamba.

A Facebook page encouraging members to get Yn y Ddinas into the top 40 has almost 10,000 members...

Eastáit na Sí

...de la Irish Times:

Ghost Estates are a recent phenomenon. Housing developments lie empty throughout the country, thanks to the magical disappearing act of the Celtic Tiger. Being a recent Irish phenomenon, it has taken a little time for Irish language wordsmiths to come up with a translation.

“Eastáit na Si” or “Fairy Estates” is, of course, open to misinterpretation in today’s sexually-oriented parlance, but is an elegant Gaelicisation of this modern landmark feature and can be linked to the longstanding regard in which the Irish have held the “little people” or those from an “domhan eile”…

...My proposal is to designate a number of these estates as new Gaeltachtaí. There hasn’t been a new Gaeltacht, officially, since 1956, when the current boundaries for the Irish- speaking areas were set in legislation by Patrick Lindsay, the then Minister for the Gaeltacht.

There have been other attempts to establish Gaeltachtaí by dedicated communities in Cork and Belfast and these have had spectacular success with a significant benefit to society as a whole – though they haven’t received official recognition…

Jill Evans

…de la Western Telegraph:

The Welsh language takes another step to becoming an official language of the EU today (Thursday) with Welsh translation being used for the first time at the European Parliament.

Plaid MEP, Jill Evans will be speaking in Welsh, with translation, in a seminar on language policy.

The event, called Language diversity: A Challenge for Europe, is organised by the European Free Alliance Group in the European Parliament, of which Jill Evans MEP is President.

Mrs Evans believes that this historic step for the Welsh language could be a springboard for Welsh to be recognised as an official EU language...

Ciorcal Comhrá en Nov-Jorko

…de Máire Ní Mhaoileagáin:

Starting March 21st from 3:00 -5:00 p.m, the NY Irish center invites you to join our Ciorcal Comhrá (conversation circle).

This will be a monthly or by weekly (depending on interest) informal gathering led by Maura Mulligan.

Whether you are a beginner, an advanced learner, or somewhere in-between, join us for our 1st session on 3/21/10 & enjoy a cup of tea while you practice your Gaeilge.

This experience can serve as a supplement to your Irish language study.

You'll meet others interested in improving their conversation skills.

It's FREE. Bí linn!

Bladair

…de la Mayo Adverstiser:

A new Irish language blog, www.bladair.com, launched in Mayo to help primary and second level students improve their proficiency in the Irish language, is to be launched to a national audience following its success in Mayo.

The brainchild of Art Ó Súilleabháin, director of Mayo Education Centre, Bladair was developed to encourage Mayo’s post primary school students to engage with the Irish language using the latest internet technology.

The project is aimed directly at students and teenagers using technology that they understand and use in their everyday lives.…

£5,000 Puno

...de la Daily Post:

Mobile phones, energy and water companies in Wales could face a penalty of up to £5,000 in future for failing to supply proper services in Welsh.

Proposed new laws published yesterday will establish for the first time legally enforceable standards of services through the Welsh language.

A new Welsh language commissioner will be appointed to police the new standards, with the powers to investigate complaints.

This includes grievances from Welsh speakers who believe their freedom to use Welsh with one another has been prevented.

The proposed measure by the Assembly Government would also confirm the official status of the language in Wales...